A primary console device enables a user, such as an administrator or other operator, to determine the operating status of a computer, such as a server, and to control the operations of the computer. For example, an administrator can use a primary console for a particular computer to log into the computer, while the computer is being booted, to logon to the computer without the license, or to cause the debugger that resides on the computer to execute. To increase profits, companies that produce operating systems can sell licenses that are required to logon onto the computer from the primary console.
Typically, multiple consoles, such as serial consoles, Video Graphics Array (VGA) consoles, Universal Graphics Adaptor (UGA) consoles, Local Area Network (LAN) consoles, etc., are associated with any given computer. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional system in which multiple console devices (also known as “console terminals”) are associated with various computers in a network. For example, serial consoles 122, 132, 142 and VGA consoles 124, 134, 144 are associated with computers 120, 130, 140 executing different operating systems (also known as “platforms). As depicted in FIG. 1, the computers 120, 130, 140 communicate with each other over network 110.
To login to any particular computer without a license or to cause the system debugger to execute, for example, the administrator needs to use the primary console device for the computer. This can be a confusing task since various computer platforms typically designate different console devices as the primary console device. This confusion has been dealt with in computers that execute the Windows™ operating system, such as window's computer 120, by designating all of the console devices 122, 124 associated with the Windows™ computers as primary console devices. For example, referring to FIG. 1, if a serial console 122 and a VGA console 124 is associated with a computer executing Windows™ 120, the window's computer 120 will designate both the serial console 122 and the VGA console 124 as consoles. Therefore, the administrator can, for example, use any console device 122, 124 associated with a computer 120 executing Windows™ to logon without a license.
In contrast, computers 130, 140 executing non-windows operating systems, such as Linux™, HP-UX™, and OpenVMS™, are implemented differently because the user community for these non-windows operating systems has indicated that they only want a single primary console device. Methods that vary from platform to platform have been developed to provide users a single primary console device to communicate with non-windows computers. For example, on one platform a VGA console may be designated as the primary console while on another platform a serial console may be designated as the primary console.
For example, a Linux™ computer 140 typically designates a VGA console 144 as the primary console device if a VGA console device is available. In contrast, a HP-UX computer 130 typically designates a serial console 132 as the primary console device if a serial console device 132 is available. This creates a confusing experience for users because they may think that one console device is the primary console device when in fact another console device is the primary console device. For example, they may try to logon to a Linux computer 140 using a serial console 142 when in fact VGA console device 144 is the primary console device or try to logon to an HP-UX computer 130 using a VGA console 134 when in fact serial console 132 is the primary console device.
Further, the fact that different platforms designate different console devices as the primary console device causes confusion for the people that manufacture the computers. For example, the manufacturing people must perform specific setup steps for different operating systems and for different platform types using a cumbersome menu interface.
A method and/or a system that eliminates the confusion for the users of computers in determining which console device is a primary console device would be valuable. A method and/or system that eliminates the confusion of the manufacturing people in determining how to configure computers would also be valuable. A method and/or system that eliminates the confusion of the user community and/or the manufacturing people but does not require existing operating systems to be changed would also be valuable.